A proud unapologetic Black trans woman speaking truth to power and discussing the world around her since 2006

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

UH Tittsworth Act Opponents Still Bitter They Lost

It's been a week and the opponents of the UH Tittsworth Act are still grousing in their not so quiet Internet rooms about their overwhelming defeat.

The arc of the moral universe bent toward justice for UH trans students last Wednesday night and we are deliriously happy about that win .

Far from taking their defeat and moving on to other subjects of importance to the UH student body, they are still flapping their loud and wrong gums about the Tittsworth Act after parting their lips admonishing us to not 'rub it in their faces' or 'celebrate our win'.

Contrary to what the Daily Cougar article headline stated, as I witnessed at the April 9 town hall and the SGA meeting last Wednesday, the UH student body is not divided on this issue.

The Tittsworth Act opponents had two months, a town hall and the SGA meeting to express themselves. They also know like 'errbody' else on the UH campus the SGA office is in UC North.

So I ask the question I pondered last Wednesday and during the town hall. Where were all these students the opponents kept citing as their motivation to oppose the bill?

When the time came for opponents to prove it and this groundswell of faux opposition to stand up and be counted during the town hall and SGA vote on the Tittsworth Act they failed to do so.

But it's interesting to note immediately after the vote was over, the opposition immediately took to social media to complain about being 'bullied' and their free speech being 'suppressed'.

That spin line may work in conservaworld, but not in the reality based world the rest of us live in. I also note at what passed in the LSU SGA Senate unanimously the very night we were having the town hall at UH.

I still have to chuckle about what SGA Senator Alan Garza, one of the few opponents who had the guts to openly name and claim his loud and wrong opposition to the Tittsworth bill, had to say in the Daily Cougar article.

"Despite taking every measure to approach the bill in a “reasonable, open-minded way,” Garza expressed his “disappointment” with students assuming he has closed-minded ideologies simply because he disagrees with the semantics of the bill."

Um Alan, if you and your friends make bigoted ill-informed statements about transpeople, disrespectfully refer to the Tittsworth Act as 'The He/She Bill', deploy long discredited 'bathroom predator' attacks as your main argument to oppose a simple policy change that will benefit a marginalized campus group, make ridiculous claims the bill is 'vague', or that proponents of the Tittsworth Act were 'intolerant' when the evidence overwhelmingly shows y'all threw the first transphobic shade, don't be surprised if members of the trans community and their supporters see you as a bigot or oppressor.

You also suggested during the SGA meeting, Senator Garza, that trans people not be allowed to change their names on university ID unless the state of Texas recognizes it. As I told you outside SGA chambers last Wednesday, we've been fighting for a law in Texas since 1999 to streamline the name change process.

There are three states, Tennessee, Ohio and Idaho that will not allow transpeople to change birth certificates regardless of the transitioned status of the transperson in question. So if you're a trans UH student that happens to come from these states, they would be SOL under your proposal

As I additionally pointed out to you, what 18 year old trans kid after paying for college tuition, fees and books, has a spare $18,000 lying around for genital surgery or the court costs to do a legal name change?

And I damned sure don't have any sympathy for a white UH Greek system that 45 years ago was loud and wrong in its racist opposition to the election of UH's first African-American homecoming queen in Lynn Eusan. Your arguments against this policy sounded to my ears like,."OMG, you mean we'll actually have to admit THEM to our ranks?

Naw, you Greeks can still be as self selective as you wanna be and the Tittsworth Act didn't change that. But frankly, it's your loss if you don't admit transpeople into your Greek ranks because of your narrow minded ignorance. You'll be missing out on some quality trans human beings who will make any organization who opens their arms and extends membership to them infinitely better than yours.

Tier One universities protect all of their students. They are also charged with creating policies ensuring every student that steps on their campus can feel safe, successfully learn, and grow to be well rounded human beings in loco parentis while earning whatever degree they are pursuing there.

The bottom line is that justice prevailed last Wednesday night for the trans community. The vote not only said to trans Cougars, you are fellow Cougars and you matter, it the same message that echoed beyond the campus to the city of Houston and around the world. It not only resonated with trans alumni, but students who are at the middle and high school levels considering where they wish to attend college.

That policy will do wonders for the University of Houston not only for the trans students matriculating on campus right now, but future Cougars the policy will attract to our Tier One level campus we are exceedingly proud of.

4 comments:

Your obsession with Greek life is entertaining. It's apparent that you're not as comfortable in your own skin as you claim to be otherwise someone your age wouldn't be writing a blog ripping into a 20 year old who has taken time to get involved in his Student Government. Your inferiority complex is so evident that I'm almost in disbelief you followed up insulting Garza by referencing a 2008 Houston Chronicle article about events that occurred 45 years ago in an attempt to justify your own prejudices. The only "narrow minded ignorance" on display is coming from yourself. Also, take the time to look up the racial makeup of UH's Greek life before assuming it is predominantly white -- which appears to be your go-to insult for some reason.

I'm slightly confused why someone who supported the bill, identifies as trans, and preaches the acceptance of all peoples would hypocritically bash a student representative for voicing his views on a controversial topic. This is not gay marriage. This is not racial equality. This is relating to a lifestyle CHOICE. Forcing that CHOICE on others who view it as perverted (which by definition it is perverted - your chromosomal makeup defines your gender rather than your emotions or psyche) is hypocritical. This country or campus doesn't preach equality either. It preaches equal opportunity. There's a big difference. You have the same opportunities as everyone else whether you identify as trans or not. The ability to use a bathroom or change your name doesn't change your available opportunities. If you really want to preach acceptance then maybe you should celebrate the passing of the bill and reach out to Mr. Garza personally to open a dialogue with him concerning his views rather than shaming him on your blog. Quite frankly its childish antics and sounds quite bitter.

I'm a proud founder of a Greek organization at a different school, and I believe in the acceptance of everyone and their viewpoints as long as they are not necessarily forced upon me. I have no issue with you being Trans whatsoever. What I do take issue with however, is forcing a community to identify you based upon your beliefs. You believe you are a different gender. Unfortunately no matter what you believe your gender cant change after birth - its genetically defined in each and everyone of the cells in your body. Let me expound with an example: I love Star Wars. And I would love to be a Jedi!!! (But seriously who wouldn't want to be a Jedi). Unfortunately lightsabers don't exist and I cant actually move things with the force. No matter how hard I try and no matter how I dress or look I will never ACTUALLY be a Jedi. Should people be forced to call me Jedi Master Bob just because I identify as a Jedi? It's a ridiculous comparison, but you get my point.

Great to see that my future daughters will be forced to share restrooms and locker rooms with men, just because enough sensationalist left wing journalists turned this into a civil rights issue, rather than looking at it at face value. If you are not passionate enough about changing your name or gender to actually do it legally, why should the university appease your requests. If you want to be a male or a woman, that's fine, more power to you, but if you don't have female genitalia, stay out of the female locker rooms and restrooms. Absolutely disgusting to know that my little sisters may one day walk into a locker room and see a fully naked man who decided they wanted to be called "Susan" getting changed in front of them.

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Monica Roberts, AKA the TransGriot (Gree-oh) is a native Houstonian, GLAAD award nominated blogger, writer, and award winning trans human rights advocate. She's the founding editor of TransGriot, and her writing has appeared at the Bilerico Project, Ebony.com, The Huffington Post and the Advocate.
She works to foster understanding and acceptance of trans people inside and outside communities of color and was recently honored with the Virginia Prince Transgender Pioneer Award

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